


that bright white noise

by torigates



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-29
Updated: 2011-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-31 12:31:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wally wasn’t normally a particularly self conscious kind of guy. He’d go so far as to say he was pretty confident in himself, and why shouldn’t he be? He was smart and handsome, and with superpowers to boot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	that bright white noise

  
Wally wasn’t normally a particularly self conscious kind of guy. He’d go so far as to say he was pretty confident in himself, and why shouldn’t he be? He was smart and handsome, and with superpowers to boot. He’d even be willing to say he was pretty freaking awesome.

Except, here’s the thing.

He spent virtually all of his time with other superpowered people, many of whom were _actual superheroes_ , and sometimes, that just _got_ to him, you know? It wasn’t like he was doubting his own awesomeness or anything crazy like that, it was just he spent a lot of time with people who were even more awesome.

Being fast (not just fast, the fastest) was awesome, and Wally loved everything about his powers. But he wasn’t strong. He couldn’t fly, or read minds, or manipulate the elements, and he didn’t have particularly good aim. He was clumsy, and he had to eat a lot, and he talked a lot when he shouldn’t, and got himself into trouble.

And his teammates were incredible. Robin was some kind of freaky boy genius, ninja wunderkind. If he wasn’t fighting crime, Wally was sure he’d be graduating college by now, or competing in the Olympics or something equally intimidating. Kaldur would be a soldier fighting in the Atlantian army, or some powerful magic guru. M’gann was the freaking champion of her entire planet. He actually wasn’t too sure what Artemis’ deal was but she had dropped enough hints for him to know she’d been crime fighting practically from the womb, and Conner was _Superman’s clone_.

If it weren’t for his powers, Wally would just be some dweeb sophomore who was clumsy, and ate a lot, and talked a lot when he shouldn’t and got himself into trouble.

(Actually, come to think of it, if it weren’t for the team Conner would either be in some kind of experimental laboratory or wrecking havoc against the justice league, so maybe he had one on him. But he was still _Superman’s freaking clone_ , so.)

Sometimes he got a little overwhelmed, was all.

He was in one of those moods. Whenever he was in one of his moods he would eat a lot of junk food and play video games by himself until he felt better. So when he showed up at Mount Justice with a bunch of pizzas and his Playstation, Robin took one look at him and vanished through the portal with a wave.

“See ya later, KF!” he called.

Wally grumbled under his breath but didn’t say anything.

Conner and M’gann were nowhere to be seen (and _that_ wasn’t something he overly wanted to contemplate) and Kaldur had gone home for a few days. He was alone.

Or so he thought.

Wally didn’t hear her until she was right beside him ( _what_ , he was killing zombies, okay?).

“Hey,” Artemis said, and sat down next to him on the couch.

“Hey,” he said, not taking his eyes off the television.

She sat beside him in silence for several moments while he continued to kill zombies. He tried to ignore her, but her presence was distracting. He just wanted to be alone so he could mope, and drown his misery in zombie guts, and here was Artemis, being all next to him. It was distracting.

“Where is everyone?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Rob went home. Ditto Aqualad. Dunno where Superboy and Miss M are. Around probably.”

She nodded, considering this. “That was shockingly few words for you,” she said.

He didn’t say anything.

Finally she got up and walked around the couch. He could hear here rustling around in the kitchen, and he felt a sudden surge of protectiveness over his pizzas. Those were _his_ pizzas, and he didn’t want to share them. She came back with a glass of water.

“There’s pizza,” he said grudgingly.

She nodded, but didn’t reach for a slice. Wally felt relieved. Then he felt guilty for being such a hoarder (but why should he feel guilty? He had bought the pizzas with his own money after all. Okay, Uncle Barry had given him the money. But the point still stood! They were his pizzas and if he wanted to eat four of them by himself who was Artemis to judge him?).

After a long moment he turned off the game. It wasn’t helping anyway. He grabbed four slices of pizza from the box and ate them.

“What?” he said.

Artemis held up her hands. “I didn’t say anything.”

He regarded her warily.

“What’s wrong with you today?” she asked.

He humphed, and grabbed two more slices of pizza. “Nothing.”

She continued to stare at him as he ate in silence. “Something is definitely up. You’re usually a lot more vocal.”

He rolled his eyes. “Sorry,” he said, drawing out the word for several syllables. His mouth was still full.

“Whatever,” she said rising to her feet. “What do I care?”

“Exactly,” he said under his breath.

“Excuse me, what?” She turned sharply back to face him.

“What?” He shrunk back a little under her glare.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I was agreeing with you.”

“Well, don’t.”

“Fine.”

She growled. “What is wrong with you?” she asked again. She was still standing over him.

“Nothing,” he muttered, picking at some invisible lint on his jeans.

She threw up her arms in exasperation. “It’s clearly not nothing.”

“Sorry,” he said feeling sincerely bad. He knew he was being difficult, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He was grouchy, and the pizza and video games hadn’t helped as much as he was hoping. Maybe after this he would go for a run to Canada or something.

“Okay, now I know something is definitely wrong.”

“I’m just in a bad mood.”

“What happened?” she asked and sat back down next to him. She reached out as if she was going to put her hand on his shoulder, but at the last minute she tucked some hair behind her ear.

He sighed. “Nothing happened. I’m just,” he paused. “Okay, it’s dumb I know, but sometimes it’s just like,” he gestured with his hands. “You know?” He looked at her earnestly, hoping she would get it.

She clearly didn’t because she continued to stare at him. “That made no sense.”

“I said it was dumb,” he muttered. He wanted to stop having this conversation. He felt hot, and knew he was blushing. Sometimes he just go so frustrated. It was hard to express himself.

“You’re dumb.” She leaned back on the cushions, and tucked her feet up under her.

“I know,” he said looking down.

She looked up at him sharply. “Wally, I swear to god, I will beat it out of you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing,” he said. “No really, nothing. It’s dumb. I’m dumb, and I know that. I’m just,” he paused again. “I’m just in a bad mood.”

“You’re not dumb.” She sounded like she meant it, and when he looked up at her, she stared right into his eyes. After a moment he had to look away.

“You just said I was,” he pointed out.

“But I didn’t mean _really_ ,” she said.

“But I am,” he said.

She punched him in the shoulder. Hard. “Ow,” he said, and rubbed his arm.

“Shut up, you big baby.”

He rubbed his arm.

“What brought this on?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I dunno,” he said. “Listen,” he paused. “I’ll tell you, but it stays between us, okay?”

She nodded.

“Sometimes I just realise how amazing all of you are.”

She arched her eyebrow. “And that puts you in a bad mood? Gee, thanks.”

He shook his head. “Not like that,” he said. “All of you, the team, the Justice League, you’re all _amazing_. And then there’s me.”

She stared at him, and for the first time since she sat down next to him, she actually looked angry. Legitimately mad. He shrunk back a little. “I don’t believe it.”

“What?” he asked.

“You’re sitting here having a _pity party_.”

“No I’m not.”

“You are. You’re totally sitting here feeling sorry for yourself. Well get the fuck over it, Wally. You spend time with a bunch of _superheroes_ , what did you expect? And by the way, you happen to _be_ one of those superheroes. Are you actually kidding me with this shit?”

He didn’t say anything.

She rolled her eyes. “For fuck’s sake.”

She stood again and turned to leave.

He grabbed her hand, and she didn’t try to get away. She didn’t turn back to face him or sit down either. “You’re right,” he said.

She didn’t say anything. He tugged on her hand and she sat down beside him. He turned to face her, his knees brushing up against her own.

“You’re right,” he repeated. “I know you’re right. It’s just sometimes I feel a little out of my league.” He smiled weakly at the pun.

“I’m not going to puff up your ego,” she told him warily.

“Of course not,” he said. “Why would you, it’s already overinflated.” He grinned, and it felt a little more sure.

“Damn straight,” she said. “If anything, you could use being taken down a few notches.”

“Now’s the time to do it,” he said.

She shook her head. “Seriously Wally, what the fuck?”

He shrugged helplessly.

She looked him in the eye. “If you repeat this, I will maim you,” she said seriously.

He gulped. She would, too.

“You have nothing to feel inadequate about. You’re a huge asset to the team. We need you.”

He stared at her for a long moment, before a slow smile broke out over his face.

“Oh no,” she said.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re about to be horrible.”

He grinned at her. He wrapped his fingers around the backs of her elbows pulling her closer to him.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Being horrible,” he said. He leaned forward the rest of the way, half-rising from the couch and pressed their mouths together.

His hands came up to cup her face, and she reached out and set her palms against his waist, holding him there. His heart beat wildly.

After a moment he pulled back, and collapsed down onto the cushion.

“You’re terrible,” she said. “Like, really the worst.”

He grinned. “I know.”

On the other side of the couch, Artemis tried not to smile.


End file.
